Wayne State University Citizens for Peace Peace and Justice Digital Resource Center 1-1-2017 Citizens for Peace Activities & Accomplishments 2016 Ann Abdoo none, arabdoo@earthlink.net Ann Abdoo arabdoo@earthlink.net Ann R. Abdoo arabdoo@earthlink.net Recommended Citation Abdoo, Ann; Abdoo, Ann; and Abdoo, Ann R., "Citizens for Peace Activities & Accomplishments 2016" (2017). Citizens for Peace. 79. http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/cpcs_cfp/79 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Peace and Justice Digital Resource Center at DigitalCommons@WayneState. It has been accepted for inclusion in Citizens for Peace by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@WayneState.
Citizens for Peace Activities & Accomplishments 2016 Monthly Membership Meetings: Second Tuesday of each month: 7-9 pm at Unity of Livonia (Five Mile Rd. east of Middlebelt) Jan. 12 Feb. 12 March 8 April 12 May 10 June 14 July 12 August 9 Panel Discussion: Five Women Five Journeys: Women of Wisdom Presentation by Father Tom Lumpkin on Detroit s Day House and Manna Meals Presentation by Tada Gunter on Increasing Inner Peace to Heal the Roots of Violence Presentation by Francis Shor on The History of the Military Industrial Complex Presentation by Roger Frank on The Importance of Literacy Film: Making a Killing, documentary on gun violence Presentation by Patrick McLean: The Refugee Crisis: We Are All Related Presentation by Lila Cabil & Kim Redigan: Water is Life: Why Safe, Affordable Water Is a Human Right Sept. 13 Oct. 11 Nov. 8 Dec. 13 Presentation by Dr. Saeed Khan: Manufacturing Bigotry: We Don t Need Bigotry in Our Laws Presentation by Colleen Mills on why we still need a Department of Peace 13 th Anniversary Party: Reflecting on our Past, Present and Future Vegetarian potluck with presentation by Tom Progar Cooking for Peace & Silent Auction Committees Education Committee Meetings: Members attend in-person meetings and then communicate via email to plan and implement such programs as the Nuclear Waste Campaign, the Education Fund Raffle and the Season for Nonviolence Random Acts of Kindness Campaign. They also continue to work on the Nonviolence and Peacebuilding Bibliography and contact libraries about possible donations. Citizen Action Committee Meetings: Members meet on the first Tuesday every other month and discuss their progress with various actions and share ideas and strategies to implement and further their goals. Members are working on the issues such as human trafficking, moving money from the Pentagon budget to peaceful purposes and passage of the Youth PROMISE Act. 1
Peace Alliance Action Team Meetings: Members of Citizens for Peace and others are invited to participate in monthly conference calls from The Peace Alliance. There is a speaker, discussion and then explanation of the action for the month to increase support for legislation that supports peacebuilding. Speaking Engagements Jan. 16: Richard Abdoo spoke at a rally in support of Syrian refugees in downtown Detroit March 20: Colleen Mills spoke at the GATE program on Peacemakers April 4: Ann Abdoo interviewed on a Christian radio station about the Youth PROMISE Act May 25: Ann Abdoo spoke at the Church of the Messiah about the Youth PROMISE Act July 4: Colleen Mills spoke at the Sensible Gun Legislation Rally in Southfield October 30: Colleen Mills spoke to the Living Peace Church in Plymouth on Living Peace: A Way to Happiness Supporting Other Organizations attending these events Feb. 13: WILPF s Program Mar.20: GATE s Program on Peacemakers April 3: MCHR Annual Program April 23: Pax Christi s Annual Program June 9: League of Women Voters and Citizens for Peace Co-hosted the Community Conversation on Restoring Public Trust in State Government facilitated by Center for Michigan Sept 11: MCHR Program on Racism with Jim Wallis Nov. 2: Newtown film and Town Hall on how to Prevent Gun Violence Nov 16: Michigan Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence meeting in Lansing Nov. 19: Peace Action s Annual Peacemaker s Award Dinner Working with other Organizations June 9: Partnered with the League of Women Voters of Northwest Wayne County for the Community Conversations hosted by the Center for Michigan. The survey gathered information on a variety of key issues important to the citizens of Michigan. Program to honor the 2014 Season for Nonviolence: Jan. 30 April 4 th : Random Acts of Kindness Campaign 2
Nonviolence and Peacebuilding Bibliography Since 2007, the Education Committee has been working on a Nonviolence and Peacebuilding Bibliography for children and adults. It now lists over 800 titles. Since June of 2007, there have been 3,201 downloads of the ng Bibliography. This bibliography is shared with public libraries, so they can select titles, and the Citizens for Peace then donates the materials. So far Livonia Civic Center Library, Redford, Westland, Farmington Hills, Dearborn Heights and Commerce Township public libraries have added books to their collections about peace and nonviolence. The latest donation was made to Marygrove University s Library to support their Masters of Social Justice Program. Through MelCat, Michigan s Electronic Library, these books are available to all Michigan residents. Tabling This activity involves setting up a table at an event and passing out information and talking with people about the mission and activities of Citizens for Peace. March 20: GATE Program at the Farmington Hills Library April 23: Pax Christi Conference Dec. 4: Care & Share Fair at the Community Unitarian Universalist Church in Brighton Fund Raising Events Dec. 13: Silent Auction Contact with Political Leaders: Dec. 21: Meeting with Senator Peters Regional Director James Jackson Throughout the year, we have called, emailed and sent postcards to numerous political leaders on a variety of important issues relating to peace and nonviolence. We have written letters to our Senators requesting support of legislation to support juveniles and juvenile justice reform. Nuclear Waste Campaign There is an ongoing letter writing campaign, to stop the licensing of nuclear power plants until there is safe storage for the radioactive waste from 100 plus nuclear power plants in the U.S. In addition, members are actively writing their legislators to prevent the State of Michigan from being a site of disposal for low and medium levels of radioactive waste. More information can be found on the Citizens for Peace blog Nuclear Age R We Safe? Media Coverage Livonia Observer Newspaper Notices and press releases of all meetings and special events 3
Online Outreach Publications Monthly newsletters sent using Constant Contact Website: www.citizens4peace.com Facebook: CitizensforPeaceLivonia The Political Action Guide for Peace (2015-2017); published by Citizens for Peace. The Get Involved Guide; a Guide to Peace and Political Action by Dana Marks; published by Citizens for Peace. 4